Under the Weather
by Calico Yorki
Summary: There's due diligence, there's self sacrifice, and there's being just plain stubborn. In this case, Brynn's stubborness gets her sick, and leaves Hanso with her compromised state to help remedy. Oh, dear. - Rated T just in case.
1. Chapter 1

In the dark, early morning on Terror Mountain, a figure had just gotten back from slogging through the slush. There had been rain while she was out, a freak occurence even in the spring by this land's standards, and when she entered a rented hut, she was drenched. Cold steeping her bones, the orange Kougra undressed, dried off, put on her sleepwear, and promptly collapsed on the couch. She hadn't even attempted to make it to her room, through a door on the left of the far wall. The partner she'd been given on this mission, an old friend (and perhaps more) was sleeping peacefully through the door on the right. Neither of them could have anticipated what would transpire in the morning.

Come daybreak, Hanso slouched out of his room, and set about his morning routine. Brushing his teeth, getting dressed, making a mug of hot chocolate for both himself and Brynn, the usual. Hanso liked to think he was an excellent hand at fixing hot chocolate; he always carried a specific cream and dark chocolate when he was visiting such cold places, and liked to mix in cinnamon or other spices for a little extra kick. Unfortunately, the sound of raucous coughing nearly made him drop his own mug, after having placed Brynn's on the table. Setting the mug down carefully, Hanso hurried into the living room. While he fully expected to have to hold off an intruder until Brynn got up (unusually late, by her standards), he did not anticipate said orange Kougra to be sprawled on the couch: hair askew, face burning, still wheezing from her fit of coughing that had barely passed.

As he fetched a glass thermometer, Hanso cursed under his breath. "'It's just a last scout for the night Hanso,' 'I won't get lost outside Hanso,' 'The concern's appreciated, but unneeded Hanso,'" he muttered under his breath. Gently setting the thermometer under Brynn's tongue and holding it there (as he didn't trust her to do it on her own, given her present semi-conscious state and all), Hanso waited for the mercury to stop rising. It did not stop until it topped somewhere between 100 and 101 degrees Farenheit. "Well, shoot," the Ixi thief said lamely. "That's a problem." For once, Hanso's wits completely left him. He didn't have a single idea of how to remedy this problem.

Then, he heard a strangled groan out of Brynn. Struggling, she rolled onto her side and tried to prop herself up with her arm. "It hurts," she fought to say. "My chest is, is, _hhnnngh!_" With a whimper more pitiful than anything Hanso had ever heard from Brynn, the Captain of Fyora's Guard crumpled back onto the couch. Unable to bear it any longer, Hanso laid a quick kiss on Brynn's feverish brow, and hurried into the kitchen. There had to be something, _anything_ to help in here! Then, vaguely, oh-so-vaguely, he remembered some kind of drink he'd been given when he was very young. Fresh to the Thieves' Guild, he'd gotten caught in the rain, and had come down with pneumonia. An older thief made him a drink out of fruits native to Brightvale, and after wracking his brain, Hanso could remember most of the ingredients the thief had said were in it. Clinging to this plan, Hanso began to get to work.

Somehow, Brynn had all of the necessary components to making the drink. Hanso was no medicine man, but he could make a college try if it meant alleviating Brynn's suffering. He thoroughly chopped up the fruit, filled a goblet with lukewarm water, and poured the fruit in. After pouring in some herbs, Hanso began to use a pestle to gently crush and mix the ingredients together. When he was satisfied, he ran back into the living room, where Brynn still lay on the couch.

She was crying. Hanso couldn't remember the last time he had seen Brynn cry. She was a picture of agony, and Hanso couldn't bear to watch. He rushed to her side, and gently placed the goblet to her lips. At first, she was too distraught to drink, but Hanso's gentle murmurings convinced her to take a sip. She quickly began to drink more, and it wasn't long before she had drained the goblet of its contents. Then, she rested, though her chest heaved.

Sat by her side, Hanso gently held Brynn's hand. Normally, Brynn fretted enough for the two of them together. Yet now, she looked so weak and fragile; like she could break, irrepairably, at any moment. As softly as he could, Hanso laid a kiss on Brynn's hand. She moaned, and jerked upwards; eyes stubbornly refusing to open and stay open.

"Hanso," she whined, "please, don't leave..." Hanso whispered that he had never intended to leave, and would never leave her side. This abated Brynn's worries, and she sunk back down into the couch. She gave a rasping sigh, and settled back down to rest.

The Blue Ixi master thief eventually fell asleep, his head on Brynn's stomach.


	2. Chapter 2

When Brynn awoke after what felt like a very, very long time, there was a pressure on her abdomen. She felt around to determine what exactly it was, and found a mass of hair, with two horns. Looking down, Brynn found that Hanso was knelt by the couch, his head laid on Brynn. One of his hands held one of Brynn's, and he seemed quite at peace.

It was then that Brynn's lungs promptly decided to burn terribly. She picked up into a brief coughing fit, causing Hanso to spring right to his feet. Brynn lowered her hand from its place covering her mouth, and mumbled an apology. "I'll have none of _that_," Hanso said sternly; though his big, goofy grin betrayed him. "You're sick, and though I'll admit it could have been avoided, I'll not let you apologize for needing to cough." When he saw the flat stare and slight smile that Brynn had fixed on him, Hanso blushed a bit. "Er, well, I'll go see if I can find anything to help make you feel better! I believe this place has reasonable television reception, so yes, have at it!" He rushed out of the living room, and into the kitchen.

For a while, Brynn looked to the kitchen doorway. Then, she sighed, and decided to try her luck with the television set. The thing was, although Brynn was a skillful, perhaps even nimble warrior on the battlefield, she and technology were not ones who saw eye-to-eye with each other. Carefully lifting the remote, Brynn stared down at it. She sighed, trying not to aggravate her chest. "Confounded buttons," Brynn spat, looking at the three in a row at the leading end on top of the remote, "they can never just make something easy to understand." Deciding to take her chances, she hit a red button with some kind of circle on top.

Thankfully, the television came on. It was _Better Than You_, the game show which Brynn would only admit to Hanso that she had a slight fancy for. Seeing so many famous Neopian figures was a nice treat, and it was interesting to see how everyday 'Pets tried to rise to the challenge. The thing was, she never had an opportunity to watch it in Brightvale, and had only even seen her first television in person in the last year or so. Regardless, most in Brightvale saw the distraction of television as unnecessary, with the countless multitudes of fine books to read throughout Neopia.

Brynn watched the show, scowling as she was forced to use a tissue while coughing. By the time that _Better Than You_ had ended, Brynn had coughed up what seemed to be half a pint of phlegm. Thoroughly disgusted, she pitched it into a waste basket near the couch. Turning off the television, Brynn slumped back into her seat on the couch.

Her chest was still hurting, her head, still feverish. However, whatever Hanso had made for her to drink had most certainly reduced the 'ungodly agony' down to 'bearable discomfort.' She really would have to thank him - whenever he decided to leave the kitchen.

Quite tired as she was, Brynn decided to take a nap.

... ... ...

Hanso was thoroughly panicked, now.

Though he had fully meant his promise to stay by Brynn's side, he hadn't meant to fall asleep half-on top of her! He had hidden it as best as he could, but Hanso couldn't escape the feelings of embarrassment and, to some extent, guilt.

"Well," he mumbled, "how can I say I'm _guilty_ for that?" For one thing, if he had stayed up all night and made himself an exhausted mess, he'd be in no condition to look after Brynn. Then, if it was a matter of perhaps hurting her, Brynn _was _a trained warrior. It would take more than her light-built partner in heroics to hurt Brynn on accident. Regardless of any of that, it was now midday, and they would both need something to eat.

So, Hanso set himself to the task of cooking up some lunch. He knew that Brynn liked soup, but Hanso honestly had neither the skills, nor the necessary materials to make soup from scratch. There were, however, bowls, spoons, cans of various kinds of soup, and a microwave. Better that than nothing, right? This being the only rationale that Hanso needed, he fetched two spoons, and set them on the table. The microwave had just enough room for two bowls, so with a bowl of mushroom soup for Brynn and minestrone for himself, Hanso set them to begin heating. Finding thankfully that he had guessed fairly accurately as to how long the soup needed to be heated for, Hanso put everything on a tray, and carried it to the living room.

There, he found Brynn; face still flush with a fever, lying prone on the couch. Hanso quietly set the tray down, but it seemed that the smell was more what woke Brynn up. Her nose twitching, the Captain of Fyora's Guard rose up, yawned, and looked over. Eyes brightening at the sight of her bowl - though she didn't _quite_ smile - Brynn picked up her spoon, and dug in.

Once the two were done eating, Hanso prepared to take the bowls and spoons into the kitchen to clean. However, he was stopped by Brynn's hand over his. He looked at her, and felt his heart flutter at the smile she gave him. Brynn said so, so quietly, "Hanso, thank you. For...For everything."

Hanso found himself smiling back. "It's the least I can do, Brynn." Not quite thinking, Hanso kissed Brynn's hand. She gave him a surprised look, and the Blue Ixi bustled out, quite flustered once more.

Smiling again, Brynn held the place on her hand where Hanso had kissed.


End file.
